We Live at the Zoo!  Well, not really.  But if you wanted to see the same birds and animals we see, you would have to go to a zoo.  It’s all quite interesting.

Monkeys and hornbills and otters, oh my!

I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at seeing monkeys walking along the path ahead of me or jumping around in the trees. Maybe it’s because it’s not something you would ever see growing up in New England; or maybe it’s because they are so human-like so you never quite know exactly what they might do.  I know we all think cats and dogs are part of the family and can behave in ways that amaze us; but they don’t “look like us.”

Monkeys

This monkey knew I wasn’t going to feed it or hurt it, so what was he wondering about?  The Red Sox maybe?

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

It is tempting to feed the monkeys but even I know not to do that.

Monkeys can be aggressive so you don’t want to train them to try to get food from humans. I walked this same path 30 minutes after this photo and there were about a dozen monkeys all across the path. I stamped my feet as I walked; swung my water bottle around in the air, clapped my hands; but they wouldn’t move out of the path. I had to walk down the embankment, past the group of monkeys, and then walk back up to the path. I don’t know what they would have done if I’d just kept walking along the path, but I didn’t want to take a chance of getting bitten.  Come to think of it, why should they be the ones to move out of the path?  Maybe I should have been the one to “give way” to be polite, rather than because I had no choice. 

Then there are the hornbills….

They are so different looking and their call is very distinct and easy to identify.

This is an Oriental Pied Hornbill or Anthracoceros albirostris. “Call a clattering laugh,” according to my bird book. They make a racket like seagulls but individuals remind me of a crying kitten or a sad mewing. These hornbills average about 68 cm, a little over 2 feet from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail.  When they fly, they stick their head out way in front and it looks like their head is pulling them through the air rather than their wings pushing them. I find them very hard to ignore.

Sometimes they act as if they want to communicate and will wait patiently while I get my camera ready for a photo.

Otters

I kept hearing big splashes near our boat but never seeing actually what made them. I thought it might be a large monitor lizard. Our prior boat neighbor, a French speaking Swiss, tried to explain the splashes, but mentioned whiskers so I said, “catfish?” “No, not a fish!” “Comment s’appelle?” he asked his friend. “Otter,” was her answer and I was really surprised because I think of otters as cold water mammals (though I don’t know why, maybe their fur.) Finally, late one afternoon, I heard what sounded like a hornbill in distress. I went outside to see and our new boat neighbor said that the sound was “barking” otters!

There were about 5 of them swimming around the boats snacking on fish! They really were so cute. I eventually ran back inside to get my camera but never got any really good photos.

I think these are “hairy-nosed” otters.

You can sort of see the whiskers. And they do seem to stick out their tongue quite a bit.

Julia and Jim on Papillon are closest to the rock border around the marina where the otters retreat to (and disappear from) so get to see them the most. Julia saw an otter enjoying a fish breakfast. The otter was floating on its back holding the fish with its front paws while resting the fish on its stomach.

According to the Nature Guide to Langkawi that I borrowed from Kathy and Peter on Wave Runner, there are also Small Clawed Otters. I think I might have seen one the other morning. A splashing noise made me go outside and I saw something floating in the water off the bow of our boat. It was light brown, square shaped and hairy. I wasn’t even sure it was an animal, maybe a piece of wood or something? But then it totally changed directions and kind of disappeared so I think it might have been the back end of a small clawed otter

I also have no photos of the sea eagles or kites (similar to eagles) that soar over the water in the marina hunting for fish and are amazing to watch. And I haven’t seen the large monitor lizard either. Julia went out walking one morning and it was blocking her path. Either it didn’t hear her or just ignored her so she backed up, turned around and went the other way. There were lots of monitor lizards at Sebana Cove, so if I don’t see one here, I won’t feel deprived. There are tiny sunbirds, woodpeckers and the funny myna. There are birds that look like small herons or egrets but I’m just guessing because there are lots of other thing it could be. I wish the marina would compile a book about the wildlife of the island.

And there are lots of plants, too, though not so many as I saw at Sebana Cove. Walking around Sebana Cove was like walking through the Botanical Garden in Singapore.

There are butterflies and snakes. I have seen lots of butterflies, but no snakes and hope to keep it that way.

“But no elephants” though there are water buffalo on the mainland and someplace where you can possibly ride one. If our friend Carol were here I’d go do it. We’ll see.

Ru

DoraMac

Hi Everyone,

  Hanukah has passed and many of you are getting ready for Christmas.  Even here at Rebak Marina that’s true!  Many of the boats have put up lights from mast to bow.   There’s a marina Christmas buffet and the following day a celidh which should be quite entertaining from what we’ve heard coming from some of the boats.  Kuah Town had a few decorations, but not many.  This area seems a bit more traditional Muslim than George Town or Miri, but we’re too far from the mainland to here the prayers during the night and day.  Lots of cruisers come here for Christmas time on their way to Thailand and that’s still our plan for January.  Langkawi is “duty free” so boat parts and things can be shipped here duty free and booze, chocolate and other imports are cheaper.  This is the story of our second shopping trip to Kuah Town.  Our first one was even more whirlwind so there was no time for pictures and when I got back to the boat it was all a blur.  I’m now starting to get it. 

Ru

DoraMac

Kuah Town with Liz and Julia 12-21-2009

This past Monday, Randal and I went on a shopping expedition to Kuah Town with Liz (Blue Tango) and Julia (Papillon.) And it does feel like a major expedition. You have to make advance plans for the transportation. You have to take luggage in the form of carrying bags and coolers. You need money, comfortable clothes, good walking shoes and hats for the sun. Cold drinking water is good too. It’s really good to have a driver and a navigator. And friends: it’s good to go with friends.

Obviously this isn’t your trip to Kroger, Sams Club or COSCO; or even JUSCO for that matter. It’s actually like going on a scavenger hunt. You take your list of needed items and you try to match it up with one of the 96 shops or services listed on the six page handout helpfully compiled by past cruisers. Two of the pages are wonderful hand-drawn maps of both Kuah Town and also Matsirat, the small town not far from the ferry landing on the mainland.

Randal and I met Liz and Julia on our dock at 8:30 am and then ambled over to the ferry dock to board the 8:45 ferry with about 20 other cruisers which filled the ferry to capacity. Everyone is required to wear one of the ferry life preservers and everyone does. The ride is short, fast and free. When you get to the mainland, there are no buses to catch so most cruisers “borrow” (don’t ask) a car from Mr. Din. To “borrow a car,” you pay between 40 and 60 ringgits depending on whether the AC works or the windows roll down. The car will have just enough gas to get you a mile down the road to the Petronas station where most cruisers add about 20 ringgits (11.76 liters) of gas to get through the day and return the car with as little fuel left as possible. Our car cost 60 ringgits but came with a half tank of gas, AC that worked and windows that rolled down and up. The trunk was iffy so we never locked it fearing we’d not be able to unlock it.

Our first stop Chin Ho Trading.

Everyone says, ‘Look for the multicolored building on the left going into town.” When we came out we discovered the trunk problem which even Randal couldn’t fix. Julia was our willing driver and we all appreciated that she could drive the standard, powerless-steering car on the wrong side of the road and even parallel park. Liz was our navigator since she knows Kuah Town and where to buy what at the better price.

In Kuah Town there is no “one stop shopping;” and, to quote Shakespeare, “there’s the rub;” rub being Shakespearean for difficulty or obstacle. “Twelve stop shopping” was more like it, and that’s because on Monday we needed to take the 2:30 ferry home or it might have become “20 stop shopping. “ Want meat, go here for frozen or there for fresh and depending if you want fish, pork or chicken, somewhere else; fruit and veggies, depends on time; bread here or there, depending if you want baguettes; beverages, a few choices if you want wine or soda; marine hardware more choices. See what I mean. It’s amazing what you can get done if you don’t dawdle, dither, or stay long in the local bargain tents along the sidewalk: just stick to your list! I had no list which is why I could dawdle, dither, and go to the local bargain tents and come home with a giant jar of capers, whole grain mustard, lime pickles, a big, comfy, soft 8 ringgit used man’s shirt like I got in George Town (which I still haven’t shown you yet.) Liz, Julia, and Randal had lists. Along the way I did pick out our 4 bottles and 1 box of wine and one of the scotch drinking glasses, all bought at different stops!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. After Chin Ho Trading we drove into downtown Kuah Town for breakfast.

My back is to the Maybank which was everyone’s next stop.

You can see the “Roanoke like” mountains in the distance where you can take a cable car up to the top and Randal and I are hoping to do that one day.

The main roads are kind of busy and you really don’t see many bicycles here. The marina restricts when you can take a bicycle onto the ferry, but if we stay long enough, who knows though it wouldn’t do for real shopping. The terrain into town is flat enough so my rear wheel , now being brakeless, won’t be a problem. A broken cable is the problem; no way to get it to a bike shop, another problem, if there is even a shop in town. We’ll see about that too, maybe.

Out of the bank and off to find breakfast! Liz and Julia.

Julia reminds me of the actress Laura Linney. Liz is my newest painting buddy. Julia loves to cook: Liz does lovely watercolor paintings and knows about everyone at the marina and lots of shopkeepers in Kuah Town. Both have done lots of interesting things in their pre-cruising lives. We meet most morning for our walks.

Cleaning the sidewalks for the day.

Thosai or Dosa depending on whom you ask….

My Topi Thosai shaped like a tent! Crispy! Light! Totally gone by the end of breakfast.

My topi thosai is trumped by Liz’ “paper thosai” which is supposedly over 2 ft. long. The two types of thosai tasted different, mine was a bit more fried. We had curried cabbage and some spicy chicken. Too early for me to do spicy so I stuck to my plain thosai and skipped the dipping sauce.

This shop sold all kinds of things for one’s home, but only sets of glasses and I need just one to replace “Randal’s glass that he drinks scotch from.” Since we have more glasses (wrong shape and size for scotch) than we need, I left with only a photo.

Help from big sister!

Crossing a drainage ditch with short legs, slim skirt, and sandals is hard without help from her big sister.

Pak Brothers meats, cheese, yogurt and other stuff.

We bought two 2¼ lb Australian “beef” roasts. I just asked Randal what cut it was and he said he didn’t know. It looked good. Randal cooked one today and it smelled good. Randal was disappointed; it didn’t taste good. We had paid 20.5 ringgits per kilo which when all the conversion is done came to $2.7 per pound. Hmmm maybe that’s why. It just needed way more garlic. The other one will be cooked into a stew. Always an adventure.

This is only some of our stuff. We entirely filled the trunk of the car.

That’s my big George Town JUSCO bag. One day each week JUSCO won’t bag your groceries for free. You have to supply your own bags or pay for your plastic bags. Not a bad idea.

Heading home.

I almost lost my hat! The ferries travel between 25-30 knots (Randal’s guess.) You have to hold on to your hat and not worry about your hair. Liz asked the ferry captain if he would stop at our dock so we could unload and he was kind enough to do it. That made a big difference in getting our trunk-load of provisions back onto the boats.

That was our second visit to Kuah Town and now I look at the map and actually have an idea what it all means. It’s probably a once per week trip we will take and maybe even be brave enough to take a turn driving.

Rebak Marina Christmas Night Buffet 12-25-2009

Dessert first…..

I knew that I needed to take photos right away or there would be nothing left to photograph! Chocolate cake that was moist and chocolaty; Yule logs……..

Chocolate fruit cake with cream sauce and cream caramel! Yummmm

And I ate some of everything! All of the cake was moist and rich in flavor. It all tasted as good as it looked which isn’t always the case with desserts. On Thursday, the marina manager had brought bags of cookies to each boat and those cookies were all just wonderful; baked by a real baker. They’re gone too, though not all in one day, thank goodness.

The bread here is wonderful, the best selection we’ve had since we left home, really!

You can see the boats docked in back. Even though we were on the furthest, A Dock, the walk back and forth didn’t begin to work off even one tiny bite of dessert!

Lost in thought!

These young men were getting everything ready. The marina employees are all very good at their job no matter what it is.

Turkey!!!!

When they announced that “dinner was served” Randal and I made a bee-line for the turkey.

There were a lots of exotic sounding dishes included as part of the dinner; but we had our priorities straight. Turkey and dessert! While I was waiting in the turkey line, the couple in back of me said they’d never eaten turkey before. They were from Austria and had heard so much about turkey that they couldn’t wait to try it. I immediately became very protective of our other “national bird” and told them that turkey was wonderful but sometimes, just sometimes….the meat could be dry. I felt America’s culinary honor was at stake! Did they like it? They loved it, and so did everyone else. The meat was really moist and tender. Just perfect! Then they quizzed me about the historical accuracy of turkey being eaten at the first Thanksgiving and did it come from the Indians. Uh, hmmm, having visited Plimoth Plantation* in elementary school you’d think I would know. One of their friends said she thought the Pilgrims had eaten chicken. I said, at one point they would have eaten bark since they were pretty starving but we always made turkey cutouts tracing our hand when we were kids so it must have been turkey. I told them I’d look it up and let them know. They also knew that President Obama had pardoned 2 turkeys; did I know that? Sort of, though since it doesn’t relate to the Red Sox off season, I hadn’t really paid attention.

Salad, flat bread, wine and my turkey with ” fruity turkey sauce” hidden by my wine glass.

The sauce was kind of sweet and fruity but wonderful with the turkey. I ate my salad and turkey and then went back for more turkey…got dark meat that time which was also really good. Now if I had just stopped there….

Along with the salads and turkey I could have had roasted tomato soup, chicken piccata, poached mussels with lemon sauce, prawn sambal, lamb stew, baked barracuda with turmeric spice sauce, sweet and sour fish, roasted herb potatoes, Palau rice with green peas and corn kernels, beef with cashew nuts and dry chilies, carrots stewed in yogurt.. and I would love to have tried them all, but I was already full from my turkey and salad. I know turkey isn’t as exotic as many of the other dishes, but I really like turkey. And really, since we left home, pretty much everything I eat is pretty exotic. Which I should have done….

I have no photo of my dessert plate because I ate everything with not one thought of photos in my head. Remember those first photos of the dessert table? I had some of just about everything!

Julia and Jim Parker on the catamaran Papillon, home port Bokeela, Florida.

Happy Holidays from Randal and me!

Hope all of you are staying warm and safe with all of the snow and sleet back home. Wish we could share the sunshine!

Ru

DoraMac

*It really is spelled Plimoth though it is in Plymouth, MA.

http://www.rebakmarina.com/rim_main.html

According to the marina website the island is 389 acres and about 3 miles from the mainland of Langkawi.

We are in the very first row of boats.

You can see how protected the marina is. It is very quiet with very little boat movement. Even tied to a dock boats can move depending on the design of the marina. There is a very small entryway on the left side of the photo.

This is the very narrow entry.

When we were coming here, I actually couldn’t see the opening in the rocks where we entered the marina.

The path that goes part way around the resort.

The rooms at the resort.

There is a main building with lounge and restaurant and small reading room where you can borrow books from the paperback collection. There is also a small building that houses a spa.

The swimming beach.

I went to go for a swim yesterday but it was low tide and there was no water above my knees in the roped off swimming area. I’ll go sometime at high tide which seems to be early in the morning or very late in the afternoon.

The pool is nice with one of those swim up to bars in the water.

Between 5 and 6 pm is half-price happy hour so many of the cruisers go to the pool about 4:30 or so. Randal and I did once.

The trail goes around the back side of the marina complex.

You can follow the trail to another beach or up into the woods. We walked to the other beach but left the woods for another time.

The second beach.

We walked into the woods for a bit but weren’t sure about spiders or snakes or other biting bugs.

The marina restaurant and office complex where we have eaten a few times.

Near the office is the “freebie” corner. People put books and other things here for other cruisers to take. I’ll make a contribution before we leave.

Recommended Safe Zone

“In the event of fire or natural calamities.” I guess forest fires are possible so they have cleared a space between the trees and the marina.

The ferry dock.

These high speed boats provide free transport to the mainland. They are very fast but comfortable. We have been on them as part of the Sail Malaysia Rally so buses were waiting on the mainland to transport us to town. We’re not so sure how it works otherwise but will find out tomorrow when we go to town with Liz and Wally from the sailboat Blue Tango. The veggie man comes to the ferry terminal every Friday and Randal and I both went this past Friday. He came in a van and there was nothing visible through the van windows so I wondered how there could be enough. The man knows how to pack! He had lots of veggies and fruit as well as cheese, bread, frozen chicken and meat, and smoked salmon. If all you needed from town was food, you’d never have to go. We are his first stop of the morning. I was told that by the time he gets to the second marina, there often isn’t enough left for those cruisers. We’re lucky we are his first stop. When you leave the island you sign out at the small ferry office and sign back in at the small ferry terminal on the mainland.

This lovely building houses the marina shop, small gym, and wonderful relaxing, reading or yoga space. The shop sells staples like bread and eggs and milk, chips, soda and beer. The bread is a wonderful whole wheat that the Roanoke Food Co-op wood be proud to sell. I think it’s the best bread we have bought since we started cruising.

That’s basically the walk around the island that Randal and I have done a few times. There is one spot near an abandoned building near the marina offices where you can see lots of monkeys and hornbills. I had never really seen a hornbill and they make a horrible squawk and move too quickly for me to get a photo. This morning while walking by myself, without my camera, I practically bumped into one sitting in a very small tree along the path. I walked past and realized it was there so stood and watched and it perched and watched and then I walked on. I’m not sure if it’s a Black Hornbill “best identified by a disgusting retching sound” or an Oriental Pied Hornbill, “call a clattering laugh.” Hopefully I’ll find someone who knows. There are also monitor lizards, and Julia from the catamaran Papillion was stopped in her tracks by a really huge one that didn’t seem to want to run back into the water or woods. This morning while she and I were walking, we didn’t see any large lizards, but we saw large lizard tracks.

One additional photo:

I passed this couple off for a bike ride. They were trying to deal with her lovely wrap so it wouldn’t get tangled in the bike as she rode.

Ru

Doramac

Hi Everyone,

   This is the final installment my George Town day with Elizabeth.  I totally enjoyed my day with Elizabeth, and writing these emails, I’ve learned even more as I try to explain the meaning of each photo.  We certainly will return to George Town and I can act as guide to Randal!  (Though no where near as good as Elizabeth!!)

Armenian Street

I have pulled the bits and pieces from the several pages about Armenian Street that I thought matched the time we spent there and my own bit of knowledge. Khoo Su Nin did a really wonderful job with Streets of George Town Penang. An interesting footnote is that she is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. 

“A map of the early 1800s shows that Armenian Street was once called Malay Lane due to the Malay kampong settlement there. By 1808, the name had been changed to Armenian Lane. The Armenian trading community from India settled here, but instead of remaining in a neighbourhood between the Chulias and the Acehnese, sought social mobility by moving their houses to the suburbs…” “… the Armenian diaspora that settled in Shiraz in Persia, and then in Bombay and Calcutta before coming to Penang.” “….by far the most famous Armenians in the region were the Sarkies brothers who made their mark as hoteliers of the Eastern & Oriental in Penang and of the Raffles in Singapore. By the 1920s most of the Penang Armenians had emigrated largely to Singapore and from there to Hong Kong and Sydney where there are significant Armenian minorities.” “A few houses on Armenian Street may have survived from the time when the Armenians lived here. These houses were probably retrofitted to function like shophouses when the Straits Chinese took over the neighborhood.” Streets 

Armenian Street.

Elizabeth and I visited the Galeri Seni Mutiara on Armenian Street looking for art. But trying to tell that story led me to read about Armenian Street in general. In many ways Armenian Street is the history of the world of southeast Asia including Malays, Armenians, Chinese: the fleeing populations and their success stories. Neighborhoods changed as different groups moved in and out for different reasons, like moving “up to the suburbs” or even to other parts of Asia and the Pacific. The Armenian story and the Jewish story in this area are very similar both coming along the trade route from India. And if you have ever had a Singapore Sling, you have a connection to Raffles Hotel where the drink was invented and now costs more than most cruisers will spend for an entire meal almost anywhere else.

Also on Armenian Street were an Islamic Museum, closed for the holiday;  the lovely green and white Yap Kongsi building and temple; and the shophouse that was Sun Yat Sen’s base in Penang.

Galeri Seni Mutiara’s exhibit the day we visited.

I don’t know if there was a “no photo” sign or if I just made the assumption that photos weren’t a good idea so I have none. This is a photo of the exhibit brochure. Elizabeth and I went into the gallery housed in a lovely, very large renovated shophouse. We looked at the paintings and were about to leave when Elizabeth went back to ask the owner for a brochure of the exhibit. Until that time he had been talking with a gentleman whom he seemed to know pretty well and I didn’t want to interrupt and really didn’t know what I would say, anyway. Elizabeth’s question and her comment that I was studying watercolor seemed to capture his attention. Mr. Koay Soo Kau provided a brochure and then sat with us for the next 30 minutes chatting about art, George Town, Malaysia, Dickens, Shakespeare and a local artist that Elizabeth had met years ago. He offered us something to drink. He showed us painting from past exhibits and then, a real treat, some of his own paintings. We probably would have been sitting there still but work intervened. It seemed a rather involved transaction concerning the buying and selling of a quite large painting so Elizabeth and I nodded our good-bye and thank-you and went on our way. I had planned to take a photo of Elizabeth with Mr. Koay since they seemed to have so much in common, Elizabeth taught English and Mr. Koay had loved studying it. He made us guess his age and we were flattered that he thought we were younger than he was. He beat us by maybe a year or two but that was it. A very charming man dedicated to art and helping new artists succeed. If you look at the website, under the artist link, select Gallery Artists and you can see My Koay’s work. http://www.galerisenimutiara.com/gallery1.php

Under the Events link you can see the works of Yong Look Law whose works were hanging in the gallery when we visited. http://www.galerisenimutiara.com/events.php

www.galerisenimutiara.com

Yap Temple and the lovely green and white Yap Kongsi at the corner of Armenian and Cannon Streets.

The Yap Kongsi was built in 1924, the temple in 1950 and refurbished in the 1990s. Judging from this photo I was obviously taken much more by the green and white building than by the temple which only gets one small corner of my photo. Now that I have read more about it, I wish I’d taken a better photo. But it was getting to be late afternoon and I was getting tired.

We left the gallery about 4:30 and I was starting to wear down and was definitely getting hungry. It had been a while since our chocolate samples and no matter what time we would leave George Town later in the afternoon, it would be at least an hour on the bus to get back to our boats. And we still needed to visit the Jewish Cemetery. Time for food! We stopped along our way at a small corner restaurant (open on the holiday because it was Chinese) and had small meals that oddly included the best French fries in the world.

Nyonya is a term for the descendants of late 15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants to other parts of Southeast Asia during the Colonial era.  (I think.)

There is a whole way of dress connected to the Straits Chinese and the Nyonyas. Beaded shoes would have fit perfectly with the long silky/satin skirts and fitted beaded jackets.

A shop passed along our way.

Our last stop was to the Jewish Cemetery and then we splurged and took a taxi back to Batu Maung because we were both just too tired to wait for the bus and then sit through the 90 minute ride and then walk up the hill to the yard. As it was we didn’t return to the boats until about 6:30 pm. But it had been a wonderful day of unplanned adventures. Oh, and somewhere along the way we stopped at a Heritage Center where the employee had time for us and that’s where I bought my copy of Streets and I’m really glad I did because reading it has taught me a lot about Penang and George Town.  Now when Elizabeth points out places and tells me about Penang, I think I might be a better pupil.

Ru

Doramac

Hi Everyone,

  Randal and I went off to a Rally event yesterday and had our first glimse of mainland Langkawi.  The last event is the final dinner tomorrow evening.  In the morning we’ll take the free Rebak Marina high speed motor ferry to the mainland for the veggie man.  He makes a stop near where we arrive.  He comes once each week on Friday so we’ll load up.

Ru

The Penang Chocolate Mansion

  One last bit of information about the tea shop, its web address: www.e-art2u.com. The web site explains the philosophy of the group of businessmen who bought and renovated the historic building and now want to support and promote local artists of Penang. And I realize now that the young man who served us tea is not the owner, Datuk Seri* Tan Khoon Hai, but does look quite a bit like him so might be related. *an honorary title awarded by the State. The official opening was in November of 2008 so it is an historic building with a new purpose.

We walked to the end of Muntri Street which is the home to many Chinese Associations and Guilds. My favorite bit of information concerns the Chinese amahs. “The association of Chan, Seng, Thong, Heong and Wooi surnames represent a joint association formed by a small group of Chinese with these surnames in Penang. A look at the pictures hanging on the wall (in the association building) reveals that the members are predominantly amahs. In the 1930s, these Cantonese women migrated in waves to Malaysia and Singapore to work for wealthy European and Chinese households. The “black-and-white” Cantonese amahs had impeccable reputations as live-in nannies, servants and cooks. Upright and frugal, they wore a uniform of white top and black pants, keeping their own moral cold, foreswearing marriage and family life to join the sisterhood. Careers as overseas amahs were an alternative to the peasant’s life in China and potential oppression by husbands and mothers-in-law. … “ Streets of George Town Penang The book continues talking about the amahs who have now reached old age and though some have returned to China, many remain in George Town in “shared quarters.” I think it’s really interesting how they chose their lives. Women in the silk industry did the same thing, becoming a sisterhood as well as co-workers. It definitely makes me want to know more about them and I will find out more when we return to Penang.

An example of a Chinese Association building on Muntri Street.

We did get to eat chocolate and I will tell you about it, but before the chocolate tasting came the incense burning. I needed to light more incense for the Red Sox since I had redirected my prior Sox incense wishes toward the solution of our fishing net mishap. Sometimes my priorities are straight. However, when I looked at my photos I couldn’t remember the name of the temple. I could sort of remember things by the order of the photos, but then I mixed up in my head what Elizabeth had told me about the different temples we had seen. So I dashed off a quick, “Help!” email to E and this is her charming reply. ….

I tried to find out about the George Town name at the Penang Heritage Centre

but after waiting for more than ten minutes when the employees didn’t

interrupt their conversations, I left, so I have no official ruling on

the name.

The Temple by the joss stick maker is the Goddess of Mercy Temple. It

has the incense and pigeons. The one where you lit the joss sticks is

the Hainan Temple on Muntri Street. It is also called the Thean Ho

Keong meaning “Temple of the Heavenly Queen”. Apparently it was

founded in 1866 and is dedicated to the goddess Mar Choo, patron saint

of seafarers. It was renovated in 1995. Part of its charm is the

natural lighting and that it is off the main tourist track. (I’ve

taken this from the black Historic George Town Trails booklet which is

the one with the black cover. There should be more information in the

Penang book).

Hope that helps.

Cheers from rust. LBD is now so well fed by the children that our

scraps are refused until she wants a late snack.

You can see why Elizabeth was such a great guide: I just wasn’t a very apt pupil.

The natural lighting.

The Streets book did add that a few more facts, the most interesting being that “Goats are slaughtered in offering to the goddess on her birthday.”

The man from the temple walked around with me since I really didn’t know exactly what to do.

I bought a pack of 15 incense sticks and then proceeded around the temple stopping at different spots to light the incense. It actually isn’t a complicated process once you have done it one or two times; and most temples have a similar procedure. I just do it so infrequently, though my real hesitation comes from feeling that I might be infringing on someone else’s religion for my non-religious reasons. However, one pays for the incense so I guess it goes for the upkeep of the temples and the temple workers are always gracious and helpful.

I think I’m at the third stop now.

Some of those sticks are mine.

I’m at the last stop to put in my last batch of incense.

I’m parading around in my socks: you always remove your shoes to enter a temple unless told otherwise as well as at many museums and even some shops.

There were stone carved reliefs were on the outside temple walls. We were told that the stone came from China though I’m not sure where the carving was done.

All of the photos of the temple that I’m in were taken by Elizabeth

Then we were off again. I don’t remember if we were aiming for the Chocolate Mansion or the “Blue House,” but the Mansion came first so we forced ourselves to go in.

This is the brochure: they were generous with the samples but didn’t allow photos.

We sampled away as our “guide” tempted us with a variety of the locally made chocolate. My favorite, believe it or not, was the chili chocolate. It had such a strong and unique flavor that you wouldn’t need much to be satisfied. Then we went to the coffee tasting room. My favorite was the mixture of tea and coffee. Oddly very good. But the prices weren’t tempting and anything we bought would have been a melted mess by the time we returned to the boats. And after all of the samples I felt pretty chocolated out for a while. Randal is satisfied with a cheapo Snickers bar and I can get by with a teaspoon full of Nutella. We’re such gourmands (if that’s the right word.) Full and no poorer for our treat, we left!

www.chocolateboutique.oomph.com.my and www.penangnettv.com/thechocolateboutique are the two web addresses listed on the back of the brochure.

This bit on the brochure struck me as funny. “Visit Malaysian Collection” “How do you know you’ve been in Malaysia? With those mouth-watering chocolates in the shape of Malaysian symbolic architecture now you can bring “Malaysia” home. “ Somehow that’s just a funny image to me, eating the places that you just visited. (During our visit to Langkawi yesterday, one of the Rally stops was a similar Chocolate shop with the same chocolate and same sample tastings. I still didn’t buy any. Earlier in the day Randal had bought some good ole Hershey Almond Kisses and that was more chocolate than we needed.)

One last stop for this email. Next along Leith St. was the “Blue House.”

Very blue.

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion rates two full pages in Streets. Unfortunately, when we got there, we learned that the next tour wouldn’t be for about an hour. Elizabeth had already been and my priority was to see the Jewish cemetery and some art, so I put it off for our next visit to Penang when Randal could see it too.

However, here is an interesting bit about Leith Street:

“At the turn of the century, Leith Street was “Hakka Millionaire’s Row “    Streets

“When the term “Hakka” first appeared in household registries during the Song Dynasty, it was used to indicate “guests” who had left their homelands to settle down in other parts of the country, in contrast to residents originally from the area. The Hakkas took to the road in five separate major migrations. The nickname “Jews of Asia” intimates these mass migrations and their pioneering spirit.” http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/lang/hakka/english/a/a.htm The Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission of Taiwan provided this info. It’s amazing what I learn trying to explain bits of information to all of you.

I have one last story to tell, and anything else that pops up I forgot for my final (for now) George Town email. I hope to have lots more to share about Penang and George Town when we make return visits, possibly late this year and definitely next year.

Ru

DoraMac

December 8, 2009 Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia

Continuing our George Town tour….  (We noticed that the city spells its name George Town and the highway department spells it Georgetown.  We were guessing one is local and one is federal)

Jin Xiu Art Gallery and Tea House 58 Muntri Street, George Town

It was lovely, cool and very relaxing.

Elizabeth going through her mail while we wait to order.

We ordered Puer tea which is a milder tea better to drink on  an “empty” stomach.

Although it was around lunch time, our second breakfast that morning kept us from being hungry for lunch. We were just tired and thirsty and tea was just the thing. The owner recommended puer tea. I remembered Stella (from Seahorse Marine) mentioning it when we were in China and also, the calligraphy teacher of Jingan had served puer tea to Sallie and me.

One of our stops earlier in the day was at the marina in George Town. E and P had stayed there for a bit and were having mail sent to them in care of the marina. That’s how cruisers receive mail and shipments. If you are lucky, mail/shipments will arrive on time; if not there are different options. You can wait for it to arrive. You can leave and hope other cruisers will retrieve it and bring it along to you. It can be sent back to its place of origination. ….. Usually though, if you stay at a marina for a month or so, your mail or package will arrive during that time. Other confusing things can happen when a resort and marina share a complex and the package doesn’t go to the marina office but rather to the resort front desk where often staff won’t sign for it. (No matter that you specifically asked that it be delivered to the MARINA OFFICE.)  We had that happen in KK. 

Our tea is being brewed for us.

I asked this young man how he came to be involved in the tea business and he said that serving tea was an art and that’s what attracted him to it.

There is an art to brewing, serving, and drinking tea. The tiny pot is refilled from the never empty glass pot of boiling water which is kept hot over a small candle. Boiling water is poured over the tiny ceramic pot to keep it hot. You drink from tiny cups, but if your tea gets cold you can pour it into the base of the tea tray through the slots and take more tea. And the cup nearest you actually belongs to the person opposite from you. I always mixed that up so we just drank from the cup nearest to us. I had experienced much of this in China acting as tour guide around Jingan for other visitors.  Everyone who visited wanted to buy tea pots and tea so we visited all the shops and drank lots of tea in similar tea “ceremonies”. But it is always a welcomed treat.

This tea house is also an art gallery. The current exhibit was the works of Charles Chauderlot.

www.charleschauderlot.com is his really fascinating web site

The exhibit was called Memories in Ink (of Penang) done in Chinese ink and brush.

Same temple, different view and nowhere near as interesting. You can see the large pink joss sticks on the right side of the photo since we are on the side street between the temple and the row of shops. At least I think it’s the same temple: I do remember the pigeons.

I’ve obviously cropped this and it’s off kilter, but you can still see how wonderful it is.

Mr. Chauderlot was invited by the Chinese to paint usually restricted parts of the Forbidden City and was later commissioned by the government of Macau to capture the city with his art. Had we been in the tea shop the previous day we would have met him at the opening of the exhibit. RATS!

A collection or priceless teapots! Tea pot warmers are on the top shelf.

Everything was decorative, even the chair seats if you can see the carving.

Local ladies having lunch. They gave us smiles as we left.

Looking out to the street.

We had a wonderful time, drank lots of tea, lots and lots of tea…and then refreshed we moved along to see what we would see. And what we would see would involve eating chocolate! And that will have to be left for another email.

Ru

DoraMac

ps: Tomorrow we’re off with a Rally tour of Langkawi for the day.  We take a small marina ferry for the short trip to the mainland and then join the Rally bus for a tour and lunch.  For the past two and a half days Randal and I have done nothing but clean the boat.  Randal works outside and I clean inside.  We’re both looking forward to a day off.  I stil have to clean the forward cabin, aft cabin and the galley. (It took me two days just to clean both “heads” and the entire saloon. To let air circulate many of the cabinet doors and the bottom half of the “head” doors have slats and getting the dust out of those slats takes forever.  I found that if you wet a rag and drape it over a small spatular, you can get that between the slats and rub it back and forth several times.  Takes forever!)   Both of us will clean the pilot house.  Because of the salt, boat yard grit, and just life we have to clean from floor to ceiling and everything in between.  But then I can ignore it for another several months of so, at least this heave duty cleaning.  Is it baseball season yet?

pps: Sorry about the missing photo of Mr. Lee, the joss stick maker.  It was in the email before I sent it.   But it wasn’t mine anyway so I guess the fact that it disappeared is fair.  

Thanks in large part to Elizabeth being such a wonderful guide I was able to see many interesting bits of George Town in the very short time we were in Penang. ( I should also thank Patrick for parting with Elizabeth’s help for the day and Randal who always encourages me to see the sights while he tends to boat needs.) Please, Elizabeth, correct me where I go wrong or totally make things up!

Elizabeth and Ruth drink tea, eat chocolate and meet an artist.

Our second Friday at the boat yard, Elizabeth was able to take time to guide me around George Town. Randal decided to go along with us, not to sight see, but to get some boat supplies. That Friday, unbeknownst to us, was the first day of Hari Raya Qurban, a Malaysian Islamic national holiday so all museums, some retail shops, and even most Muslim restaurants were closed. That didn’t spoil Elizabeth’s and my day at all but Randal, who had just come for one specific shop went home early and mostly empty handed. For Elizabeth and me, the holiday closings created the opportunity for different adventures.

Our first stop in George Town always being a second breakfast, we headed to our favorite Muslim restaurant only to find it closed for the holiday. As we toured the streets to find another, we ran into our good friend Ian from Reeflections II. We had first met Ian and his wife Robin in Sebana Cove at a dockside happy hour. Robin is the nurse who took care of me when I had my bout of food poisoning. We reconnected with them in Singapore and at that time Ian was the hero for climbing our mast several times to fix our anchor light. They were now in the marina in George Town where Robin was recovering from knee surgery performed at the local hospital. We ate breakfast with Ian and afterwards he and Randal went off for boat stuff and Elizabeth and I went off to see George Town. Had there been no holiday, our favorite green and yellow restaurant would have been open and we might not have met Ian.

On our way to find breakfast we passed by a man making popiah on Chowrasta Road. He makes them from 8 to 11 on weekdays. Like most shops, this one opens out to the road so you can watch the work being done: an interesting way to advertise.

Step one

Step two

Step three

“Popiah in Hokkien dialect translates to Spring Roll. If you’ve ever wondered how spring roll wrap is made, then this is the place to watch and learn. The owner can make a minimum of 15 pieces of spring roll wrap per minute! For those who aren’t familiar with the history of popiah or spring rolls. This ever popular dish has its origins in Northern China sometime during the Qing Dynasty to celebrate the good harvest. The Chinese believe that the new year’s cycle begins with Spring when everything comes alive after the cold, harsh winter. The original spring roll filling was made mainly out of fresh vegetables collected from the year’s first harvest, sliced, cooked and wrapped in thin dough” http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MI_penang3.htm provided the info: the photos are mine.

    When I had my art classes in Singapore, I had often gone for lunch at the Maxwell Food Court in Chinatown and always ate popiah. The stall didn’t make the wraps, but made the filling and the finished roll as I stood waiting. They were wonderful.

After breakfast Elizabeth took me to see the joss maker.

Some samples of joss

This is a photo of Mr. Lee but it’s from the website, he hurried away just as we arrived. We did see a box of joss sticks just like he is making in this photo.

Joss (Incense)

Unfortunately, when we got to his shop he only had time to tell us that he was off to see the doctor. But his story is really interesting.

“Mr. Lee Beng Chuan has been making joss sticks for decades now. This sprightly 60-some year old man and his wife continue to churn out joss sticks for a select group of loyal customers. Mr. Lee started out not as a joss stick maker but he was commissioned to handcraft dragon and phoenix effigies onto large joss sticks that were used for special occasions such as important Chinese festivals and birthdays. As his eyesight began to fail, he decided to switch to a labour intensive but less skilful career and hence making joss sticks instead. Today, Mr. and Mrs. Lee continue to churn out joss sticks for their very niche market. Although, Mr Lee used to produce thin jossticks – those often seen at alters in temples, he can no longer compete in pricing especially those from China and Vietnam. Instead, he makes shorter, fatter jossticks, which he says are more appropriate for his customers who many have moved away from houses and into apartments. In this way, the smaller jossticks would take a shorter time to burn and hence less smoke in the apartment.

Visitors can buy jossticks from Mr. Lee. He sells them in a variety of sizes. He will proudly show anyone interested, the process of making jossticks over and over again without missing a skip. However, Mr. Lee and wife speak only Chinese and a bit of Malay. On rainy days, Mr. Lee does other things apart from making jossticks, as the process requires quite a bit of sun. The final stages before packing is to dry the jossticks under direct sunlight for 2 days. Mr. Lee has lived in this house on this street for over 65years. He sadly reminisces days when the row of houses in which he still lives on were filled with folks working on all sorts of trades. As the younger generation went off to school and universities, they left their homes for luxuries of apartments and bigger cities. Many of the older generations went along and retired from their livelihood. Mr. Lee maintains that he and his wife would prefer to work for as long as they are able to ~ their way of life is what makes them whole.”

No. 1 Lorong Muda. Operations hours: 8.00am – 11.00am (also depending on the rain, weekdays).

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MI_penang2.htm#5

We walked over near the Esplanade to catch the free bus that takes you around George Town.

I took this photo from the boat as we passed by on our way to Langkawi. You can see the style of the government buildings along the Esplanade built by the British during the 1800s and early 1900s

St George’s Church, dates from 1818 and is the oldest Anglican church in Malaysia.

According to http://www.tourismpenang.gov.my/heritage_st_georges_church.html it was built by Indian convicts. I think Elizabeth said it was being renovated. In any event we didn’t go in but waited just in front for the free bus that takes you around George Town.

Elizabeth looks at the map to plan our next stop…to find some art.

Drainage ditches ran along the sidewalks so you had to plot your way.

Lots of trishaws around but I would guess they are mostly for the tourists.

Not everything was famous but it was all lovely to look at.

Just wandering the small streets gives you lots to see.

While I was noticing the lovely tile and woodwork in front of this building, Elizabeth had noticed the inside which was a tea shop. We went in for tea and also found art.

I’ll tell you about it next email…..

Ru

DoraMac

Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia (70 miles north of Penang)  December 6, 2009

Hi Everyone

Fireworks at Kuah

Midnight fireworks under the full moon celebrated DoraMac’s arrival at Kuah, Langkawi!

Actually we don’t know what they were for but they were much nicer than 7 hours of screaming karaoke which we’d had at anchor in Penang. They did wake me up so I got up to watch for the 10 minutes or so that they lasted. But, after a 10 hour passage with winds and swells just off our starboard bow, I was tired enough to easily fall back to sleep.

We left Penang at 7:15 am and after a 71 mile passage arrived at Kuah, Langkawi at 5:15 pm averaging about 7.1 knots. Remember that shiny propeller and newly painted hull? Thanks to a clean prop and newly cleaned boat bottom, we are probably averaging one more knot per hour than when the boat was dirty. That may not sound like much but over 70 miles saved us at least an hour or possibly more of cruising time. And that can mean the difference between arriving at an anchorage in daylight rather than in the dark. 

See where it says SOG: that’s speed over ground. 8.9 kt (knots per hour.)

Our recent cruising speeds with adverse currents, winds on the nose, and a very dirty boat have too often been under 5 knots. Yesterday when we were cruising at under 7 knots we felt slow! The wind didn’t seem all that strong until I tried to hang up the bedding I had washed. Hanging the wet quilt- cover on the port side clothesline wasn’t so bad. But when I tried to hang our queensize bed sheet on the starboard side, the wind made it so impossible that Randal had to come down from the flybridge to help me. Everything was dry in no time. Trying to stay on my feet as the boat rolled and also hold onto the bedding as the wind tried to whip it away was a bit tricky, but nothing was lost and we finally have clean sheets. It is all of that boat movement as you try to move about the boat, sit in the small helm chair on the flybridge, or even lay down to rest that makes it so tiring.  And we just have gotten little rest in the past 3 weeks between passages and boat yard work.   My next big task is to clean months of cruising dust and salt crystals and 2 weeks worth of boat yard grit from the inside of the boat. Though Rebak, our destination on Langkawi offers a lovely marina, my goal is to clean the boat rather than hang around the pool. But I will paint! And read.

One last fireworks photo.

So later today we’ll move over to Rebak Marina. I tried their website to share but it doesn’t seem to be working so you’ll have to wait for photos, but it is supposed to be lovely. It is an island and there is a free ferry to the mainland several times each day.

Ru

DoraMac

Anchored near that awful karaoke bar between Batu Maung and George Town

Penang, Malaysia

Hi Everyone,

   We left the boat yard: yippee.  We had to say good-bye to Elizabeth, Patrick, and LBD: very sad.  DoraMac was put back into the water about 3 pm and it is much easier than coming out by a long shot.  Then we just cruised back to a spot to anchor for the night stopping a bit too close to the karaoke bar.  But it was the rain that woke us about 2 am so we had to close the boat up anyway and that muffled the much of the sound which ended at 5 am at the same time our clock alarms went off.   Today we’ll start for Langkawi our ultimate destination, Rebak Marina and anchor midway tonight.   We’ll arrive in Langkawi Sunday and move over to the marina Monday.  We’ll stay at Rebak until the end of December.  While we are there I look most forward to cleaning the boat yard grit out of Doramac who needed a good cleaning anyway. 

   I did some great touring of George Town with Elizabeth and will write that up and share the photos. Patrick and Randal gave each other moral support doing boat work, though Elizabeth did a lot of the primer painting following after Patrick’s sanding.  I was the one who was mostly spectator in the boat work department.  But it will take forever to clean inside the boat and that’s mostly my job.   I should catch things up in Rebak. 

We should be heading out about 7 am when it gets light.

Ru

DoraMac